The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1887-03-03
NOT A DELUSION.
Sermon by Rev. T. De Witt Tai
mage, D. D.
How Millions of the Human Race Have
Been Deluded" Into Better Lives
and Brighter Hopes-A Few
Notable Examples.

PnooKLYy, N. Y, Jan 30.-sIs the Chris
tian Religion Cheat2" was the subject of
DR. Talmage's sermon this morning. He
took for his text part of the twenty-first
verse of the twenty first chapter of Ezekiel:
HE made his arrows bright, he consulted
with images, he looked in the liver" The
sermon was as follows:
Two modes of divination by which the
King of Babylon proposed to find out the will
of God: He took a bundle Of arrows, put
them together, mixed them up, then pulled
forth one, and by the inscription on 1t de-
cided which city he should first assault.
Then an animal was slain, and by the
lighter or darker color Of the liver the
brighter or darker prospect of success was
inferred. That is the meaning Of the text:
HE made his arrows bright, he consulted
with images, he looked in the liver"
Stupid delusionl And yet all the ages
have been filled with delusions. 1t seems
as if the world loves to be hood winked;
the delusion Of the text is only specimen
OF vast number of deceits practiced upon
the human race. 81.
In the latter part Of the last century Jo-
hanna Southcote came forth pretending to
have Divine power, made prophesies, had
chapels built in her honor, and one hundred
thousand disciples came forth to follow
her. About five years before the birth of
Christ ApollOnluS was born, and he came
forth, and after five years being speeches.,
according to the tradition, he healed the
sick and raised the dead, and preached Writ
Tie, and, according to the myth, having
deceased, was brought to resurrectionl
The Delphic Oracle deceived vast null
titudes Of people-the Pythoness, seated in
the temple of Appolo, uttering crazy
jargon from which the people guessed or
misguessed their individual or national
fortunes or misfortunes. The utterances
were Of such nature that you could read
them any way you wanted to read them.
So the ancient auguries deceived the peo-
pie. The priests of those auguries, by the
flight Of birds, or by the information of thun-
der, or By the inside appearance of slain
animals, rald the fortunes or misfortunes
of individuals or nations. The sibyls de-
ceived the people. The sibyls were sup
posed to be inspired women who lived IN
caves and who wrote the sibylline books,
afterwards purchased by Tarquin the
Proud. So late as the year 1929 man
arose in New York, pretending to be Di-
vine being, and played his part SO well
that wealthy merchants became his disci-
Piles and threw their fortunes into his dis
cipleship.
And so in all ages there have been NEGRO
mancies, incantations, witchcrafts, sorcer-
les, magical arts, entertainments, divina.
tions and decisions. The one of the
text was only specimen Of that which
has been transpiring in all ages of the
world. None of these delusions accom-.
plished any good; they deceived, they
pauperized the people, they were as cruel
as they were absurd; they opened no hos
pitfalls, they healed no wounds, they wiped
away no tears, they emancipated no serf-
dom.
But there are those who say that all these
delusions combined are as nothing COM
pared with the deluson now abroad in the
world-the delusion of the Christian re-
igion. That delusion has to-day two hun
dred million dupes. 1t proposes to encircie
the earth with its girdle That which has
been called delusion has already over
Swallowed the Appalachian range on this
the Balkan and Caucasian ranges on the
other side the sea; it has con-
quered England and the United
States. This champion delusion, this
hoax, this swindle of the ages, as it has
been called, has gone forth to conquer the
islands of the Pacific; the Melanasia and
the Micronesia and Malayan Polynesia
have already surrendered to the delusion
Yea, it has conquered the Indian archi-
pelago, and Borneo, and Sumatra, and
Ceiebes and Java have fallen under its
wiles In the Fiji Islands, where there are
10000 people, 102, 900 have already become
the dupes of this Christian religion, and il
things go on as they are now going on, and
If the influence of this great hallucinatior
OF the ages can not be stopped, it will
swallow the globe.
Surprising, then, that Christianity is the
delusion of the centuries, as some have
pronounced 1t, 1 propose this morning t.
show you what has been accomplished by
this chimera, this fallacy, this hoax, thi:
swindle of the ages.
In the first place, remark that this de
fusion of the Christian religion has made
wonderful transformations of human char
acter. l will 60 down the aisle of any
church in Christendom, and will find OF
either side that aisle those who were once
profigate, profane, unclean of speech ant
unclean of action, drunken and lost. Blu
by the power of this delusion Of the Chris
tian religion they have been completed,
transformed, and now they are kind ant
amiable, and genial and loving, and useful
Everybody sees the change. Under thu
power of this great hallucination they hav,
quit their former associates, ani
whereas they once found their chief de
light among those who gambled and swore
and raced horses, now they find theil
chief joy among those who go to prayer
meetings and churches, SO complete is thi.
delus;on. Yea, their own families hav,
noticed it; the wife has noticed it; tn,
children have noticed it. The money tina
went for rum, now goes for books and fol
clothes and for education. He is a new
man; all who know him say there ha
been a wonderful change. What is tn,
cause Of this changea This great hallu
cination of the Christian religion. Their,
Is as much difference between what he il
now and what he once was as between
rose and nettle, as between dove and
vulture, as between day and night
Tremendous delusion
Admiral Farragut, one of the most ad
mired men Of the American navy, earl,
became victim Of this Christian delusion
and seated. not long before his death, a
Long Branch, he was giving some frlend
an account of his early life. He said:
my father went down in behalf of the Unite,
States Government to mt an end tn Aaro,